Kerouac and Japhy...

hiking Mt. Tamalpais in 1955, just prior to Japhy's (Gary Snyder's) excursion to Japan and before Kerouac leaves for his season as a fire lookout on Desolation Peak. If you hike or run or whatever, this rings true still:

“Trails are like that: you’re floating along in a Shakespearean Arden paradise and expect to see nymphs and fluteboys, then suddenly you’re struggling in a hot broiling sun of hell in dust and nettles and poison oak… just like life."

-Jack Kerouac in The Dharma Bums